Pasta Making in Wine Country

I am a week late here, but I have plenty to share.  Last weekend I flew to Napa to visit my sister, brother-in-law, and mom which is usually a fabulous trip with lots of things to do and see (yes, other than wine-tasting), but it was pouring down rain the ENTIRE time!  What a bummer!  We still made it out to do some outlet shopping and dine at some fabulous restaurants, including an italian restaurant, which got me and my sister thinking…MAKE OUR OWN PASTA!
Neither one of us had ever tried making pasta from scratch but she just so happened had a manual pasta maker tucked away in the back of a kitchen cabinet (pro
bably shouldn’t say “just so happened” since she has every kitchen gadget, small appliance, and ‘whatever maker’ you can think of – except a microwave, oddly enough).  I forgot to snap a picture of it but the image on the right is basically what it looked like.

So, on my second rainy night in Napa, we pulled out the semolina flour and went to work.  It was surprisingly easy!  The dough came together quick and seemed to have the right texture and look.

Then, it was time to play with the pasta maker!  This is where things started to go downhill.  First of all, the pasta maker is supposed to be anchored to the counter with the supplied clamp but my sisters counters were too thick to use it.  So my mom is holding down the machine, I’m running the dough through the top while cranking the rollers, and my sister is catching it as it comes out the bottom.  How does anyone do this by themselves?!  Second, as we ran it through the little wheels of the tool, the dough did get thinner but never the right consistency and also tore apart too easily.

I was so disappointed! We had only worked through half of the dough when we gave up and all we had were broken pieces of sticky strings.  So, my mom and I went upstairs to help her with her computer for a few minutes.  When I came back down my sister was holding the instruction guide to the pasta maker.  She looked up at me and said, “We should have read the instructions first”.  Apparently, there is a whole process and trick to this pasta making deal.

Round two was amazingly successful!  We remade the dough (the first batch had dried out, plus we just didn’t wan’t the bad juju of batch one) and had the flour handy (extra flour is the trick here as each time you run it through the rollers to thin the dough out you need to dust it with flour and fold it over before you run it through again).  We were able to make the perfect amount for 4 people.

Just so you know, homemade pasta should NOT look like this…

It SHOULD look like these beautiful strands of deliciousness…

Just a few minutes in boiling pasta (after letting the strands dry for an hour or so), topped off with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little parmesan, and voila!  Fabulous, easy (read the instructions!) and better than any store bought! YUM!

P.S. We did have one morning of reprieve from the rain so I jumped on the opportunity to go for a run.  Only in Napa can you go for a run through a neighborhood and see vineyards! (Sorry for the blurry picture, but…I was running) I love this place!

Week Two: Homemade Bread and the Driving Range

I hope you all are making the most of your first two weeks of the year!  I am trying to keep up with my own goals and it has been exhausting already.

A few notes from my last post…

I was almost successful in my week long diet and workout plan.  There were only two meals of the week I didn’t end up making and two days of workouts not completed.  Unfortunately, one of the workouts was my long run Saturday as I have a hip-flexor strain and will have to take it easy for a while (sad face).  Hoping i’ll be able to still complete the half marathon in February.

Here are a few pics from a couple meals I did make last week.  I’m still working on knowing how to take good foodie pics so bare with me.

Miso Tofu and Vegetables

Chickpea Stew with Lentils

Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa

Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa Ready to Eat!

I think my favorite was actually the Miso Tofu and Vegetables!  The tofu was crispy from using cornstarch when pan frying and the dressing was heavy enough that made the meal very filling.  I ate it as is, no rice or quinoa, but both would go lovely with it.

Ok, now onto my something new for the week.  I wanted to make homemade bread but had to get creative with what kind as I almost NEVER bake…so my supplies were low.  I did, however, find a great Vegan Zucchini Bread recipe that brought back great memories.  My mom and I used to make a fantastic Chocolate Zucchini Bread together when I was little.  As I grew up I always wanted to make it again but we had lost the recipe.  So, while this recipe didn’t have chocolate either, I still wanted to make it with my mom in mind.

If anyone does have a Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe, please share!

Since making homemade bread isn’t technically something I’ve never done, I had to find something else to add to it.  Luckily, we recently got a Top  Golf near us, and my husband and I are celebrating our birthdays this week, so we got some friends together and headed over.  After the hour and a half wait, we were able to play.  My something new here is that i’ve NEVER hit a golf ball outside of miniature golf, so this driving range set up was completely new.  It was fun!  Even though I missed the ball several times, shanked it to the right, and felt completely awkward holding the club, all of which I completely blanked on getting pictures of, I think I might go back and give a few lessons a try!

Next weekend I will be visiting my mom and sister in California.  I’m leaving it up to my sister to find something new for me to try while I’m there.  Can’t wait to see what she comes up with!

Week One: Blogging and Logging (food, that is)!

Happy 2016 everyone! I, like many of you, am starting my New Year resolutions. My primary resolution this year is to try as many new things as I can, ideally, one per week. Unfortunately, I’ve only come up with 26 things so far. I thought making a list of 52 things I’ve never done would be easier!

First on my list, write and maintain a blog for a year (which just made me think of #27…learn how to write a blog). So, here it goes.

In this blog, I’ll be sharing my weekly “adventures”, some simple, some silly, and, hopefully, some inspiring and entertaining. Along with my weekly updates, I’ll be sharing my success and challenges with maintaining a vegan diet. I actually went vegan at the start of last year after becoming a certified holistic nutrition counselor. The training more or less ‘scared’ me into trying vegan. So I slowly cut out meat, then fish, and then in 2015 I sealed the deal with cutting out dairy. I definitely cheated a few times throughout the year and wasn’t overly strict about every ingredient when eating out, but overall I think it was a fairly successful year.

I spent a day off during the holidays looking up recipes and planning out my first week of meals for 2016. I kept in mind the fact that I’m in mid-training for a half marathon in February, and also want to increase my strength and flexibility workouts. I also work at least 50 hours each week so recipes needed to be fairly simple. Below is my goal meal plan and workout schedule. Based on previous habit, I’m destined to successfully make it through Wednesday and then crash and burn. Wish me luck!

Sunday (Yoga Class)

• Breakfast: Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa
• Lunch: Chickpea and Avocado Sandwich
• Post Workout: Smoothie (banana, strawberries, Vega-One Vanilla Protein Powder, almond milk, spinach)
• Dinner: Miso Vegetables and Tofu

Monday (Morning Run)

• Post Workout: Smoothie
• Breakfast: Oatmeal with Cinnamon and Blueberries
• Lunch: Salad with Turmeric Tahini Dressing (salad: spinach, mushrooms, black beans, red onion, peas, avocado, sunflower seeds)
• Snack: leftover Miso Vegetables and Tofu
• Dinner: Chickpea Spinach Stew with Lentils (recipe calls for quinoa also but I left it out and doubled up on the lentils)

Tuesday (Chest & Triceps)

• Breakfast: Smoothie
• Lunch: Leftover Chickpea Spinach Stew with Lentils
• Snack: Quinoa cooked with Nutritional Yeast, Pine Nuts
• Post Workout: Protein Shake (Vega One Chocolate Protein Powder, almond milk, water)
• Dinner: Sweet Potato Veggie Burger and side salad with balsamic dressing

Wednesday (Morning Run)

• Post Workout: Protein Shake
• Breakfast: Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa
• Lunch: Salad with Turmeric Tahini Dressing
• Snack: Banana
• Dinner: Warm Lentil and Brussels Sprout Salad with Roasted Radicchio Wedge

Thursday (Morning Run)

• Post Workout: Protein Shake
• Breakfast: Oatmeal with Cinnamon and Blueberries
• Lunch: leftover Warm Lentil and Brussels Sprout Salad
• Snack: Warm Chickpeas with Nutritional Yeast
• Dinner: Quinoa Chili

Friday (Back and Biceps)

• Breakfast: Smoothie
• Lunch: leftover Quinoa Chili with Avocado
• Snack: Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa
• Post Workout: Protein Shake
• Dinner: Ginger Soba Noodles

Saturday (Long Run)

• Whatever I want!  (but still vegan…)

I tried to find recipes that had similar ingredients to help with cost. Below was my shopping list. I know it looks very long but it actually totaled under $100 since so much of it is what I already had in my kitchen. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of ingredients left over to use next week. I should mention I am pretty much only cooking for myself. My husband is a true meat eater but he’ll indulge me from time to time – such a good sport!

Shopping List

(Items in red I already had in my pantry/fridge)

Vega One Chocolate Protein Powder	Sweet Potato
Vega One Vanilla Protein Powder	Almond Milk
Olive Oil	Soba Noodles
Sesame Oil	Extra Firm Tofu
Sesame Seeds	Miso
Turmeric	Pecans
Apple Cider Vinegar	Berries
Maple Syrup	Tahini
Red Pepper Flakes	Garlic
Salt & Pepper	Avocado
Garlic	Tomatoes
Brown Lentils	Canned Chickpeas
Vinegar	Cilantro
Coconut Oil	Green Onions
Green Chili	Spinach
Quinoa	Basil
Cumin	Asparagus
Cardamom	Broccoli
Chili Powder	White Onions
Soy Sauce	Yellow Onions
Rice Wine	Jalapenos
Red Onion	Carrot
Tomato Sauce	Celery
Lime Juice	Zucchini
Bread	Canned Black Beans
Panko	Canned Kidney Beans
Hamburger Buns	Bananas
Paprika	Masala
Rosemary	Ginger
Agave Nectar	Radicchio
Brussels Sprouts	Green & Red Bell Peppers
Mushrooms

So now that I’ve started my first of many new activities for 2016 by publishing this blog…what will next week bring?  Whatever it is, I’ll try to include some pics.

I’d love to hear what your New Years resolutions are!